Page 25 of Blood of the Damned: Thorn (Vaughn Winery #1)

Thorn

Sounds of banging and hammering coming from the bathroom had Thorn grinning widely to himself at just how fast the renovations were coming along.

Trev had given him assurances with the hefty bill, so Thorn had high expectations.

The cash he’d all but thrown at Trev was worth it when Ledger had shown some excitement at Trev explaining he could use a corner of the enormous bathroom and not interfere with the existing tub or view Ledger loved.

The promise Trev gave to have the room looking like the shower had been there all along, with the walls retiled after laying the new pipes, had Thorn counting down the hours.

The previous night Ledger had allowed him to lift him into the tub, but with how his emotions swung much the same as the old pendulum in the antique clock housed downstairs, Thorn didn’t know from hour to hour what Ledger’s mood would be.

He popped his head around the door, not stepping inside with how many men were in the bathroom working. “How’s it going?”

Trev, who was kneeling down next to a pile of marble tiles that Dacian had found in the basement, didn’t look up as he answered, “The same as it was when you asked two hours ago.”

The chuckle he released held some embarrassment. “Sorry, it’s just…”

“Your mate is pregnant,” Trev answered, finally looking up, holding a tile in his large hands.

“I get it. Mine wasn’t much better. The irrational mood swings.

The weird cravings at three in the morning.

How you need to think about moving before you actually can because your centre of gravity is way off base. ”

Thorn stared at the huge shifter. He wasn’t an omega? “You… were pregnant?”

Trev’s chuckle came with a nod. “Folks see my size and immediately assume I’m an alpha, or at least a large beta.”

“Wow… I didn’t know.” Thorn used his exceptional sense of smell and found nothing that alerted him to what he’d assumed.

“Yeah.” Trev shrugged shoulders more fitting for an alpha. “I don’t go out of my way to explain to folks anymore ‘cause those in town know.”

Then how had Thorn missed it?

“Thorn, where the fuck are you?” called Dacian from the living area, derailing Thorn’s questions for Trev.

He turned in the doorway to see Dacian enter the bedroom. “You bellowed?”

“Why are you here when Max arrived five minutes ago for our meeting, the one you’re supposed to be at?”

Damn.

“Damn, is right. Stop hassling Trev and leave him to get on with his job and come and do yours.”

Dacian didn’t give him a chance to reply as he took hold of his arm and dragged him out. “You know fine well Max gets too fucking handsy with me and I hate being left alone with him.”

Thorn tried to hold onto the laughter. Max was a pint-sized vampire who had been crushing on Dacian for a very long time. The vampire was half Dacian’s size and found his surly nature more of a turn on that off-putting. “I told you to be nice, then the little tyke will leave you alone.”

“Stop laughing, it’s not fucking funny,” Dacian snapped, his eyes glowing red with temper.

His grip turned punishing as he increased his speed. Him being faster, Thorn had to run to keep up when the fucker wouldn’t let go and he didn’t want to cause a show for the staff, who might mention it to Ledger.

“Oh, but it is,” he fired back, finding the whole situation highly amusing, despite the grip and running next to Dacian. It wasn’t often that Dacian could get rattled like this and although Thorn had not intentionally left Dacian to deal with Max, the side benefits were nothing to be ignored.

“Laugh all you want, you asshole, but I’m not the one with a mate who looks about ready to burst open.”

The laughter died at the image now painted in his mind.

He really tried hard not to think about how big Ledger was getting.

How his skin gleamed like blue veined marble with how tight it was.

How big the girls had gotten and how it was a struggle to estimate how much longer it could be before Ledger was ready to give birth.

The aches and pains he was getting were increasing, and he’d thought just the day before Ledger was going into labor.

“Shut the fuck up!” he ground out. He managed to yank his arm free as they entered the winery, just in time to see Ledger stroll out of the tasting room with a party of ten.

He gave Thorn an arched look before glancing at Dacian while he continued with his conversation with a couple who kept stride with him.

You keep those thoughts to yourself. My dhampir has enough to contend with, he hissed at Dacian while smiling cheekily at Ledger, then blowing him a kiss that made him blush and glance away.

Whatever. Just make sure you sit next to Max. That vamp has wandering hands.

Thorn’s amusement returned, as did his sense of vengeance. The second he got into Dacian’s office he went for his office chair and plonked himself down, smiling sweetly at his brother. Sitting forward, he offered a hand to Max.

“Good to see you Max, you’re looking well.”

Max had clearly made an effort. The small vampire bordered on skinny, and the suit he wore actually made him appear bulkier than usual.

His ginger locks had been teased into a tumble of curls around his freckled face.

The blue of his eyes resembled that of a sea bathed in sunlight, making it twinkle.

Unfortunately for the small vampire, he was pretty, just not to Dacian, no matter how much he tried to appeal to him.

“One has to try,” Max replied, voice as smooth as silk, taking Thorn’s hand and giving it a firm shake.

Max kept his gaze off Dacian for two seconds. Thorn counted, growing more amused as Max let go his hand to move his chair to face the only other seat in the office, the one Dacian had yet to take.

Max patted the arm of the empty seat, fluttering exceptionally long eyelashes at Dacian. “Come darling, sit. Catch me up on what’s new.”

“Thorn has met his dhampir and they are expecting twins.” Dacian relayed all of this while taking the seat and sitting, fractionally angling himself away from Max’s. “It could be any day now before I meet mine.”

The level of enthusiasm for the lie was so forced that Thorn roared with laughter inside his head. Liar. Liar.

Fuck off. “How is your family, Max?” Dacian’s question seemed to bounce right over Max’s head, who wore a stunned expression as he stared unblinkingly at Dacian.

“Your sister paid us a visit recently, I see she got married,” Dacian continued on as though Max had replied and he wasn’t holding a one-sided conversation.

“D-dhampir?” Max finally stuttered, shifting his attention to Thorn, who nodded sympathetically. Max was looking as if his dreams had gotten crushed and he seemed to shrink right before Thorn’s gaze.

“Ledger. You may have seen him when you arrived?”

“A man? Your dhampir, who’s pregnant, is a man?” Hope flared to life so fast, Max’s lips tugged into a huge grin.

Thorn got an uncomfortable feeling from Dacian. Why, he wasn’t sure.

What’s with you?

He didn’t answer, instead he replied to Max. “Yes, Thorn’s dhampir is male.”

“W-wow. What a shocker. I do not think I’ve ever heard of a dhampir being male before.” He gave Dacian a wistful smile. “Then there is hope for all of us who prefer men to warm their beds.”

“Indeed.” Dacian didn’t sound anywhere as happy as Max did. “Shall we discuss business now?” He wasn’t curt, and if Thorn didn’t know his brother as well as he did, he might have missed the desire to leave the room.

“Yes, sorry, of course.” Max reached into his suit jacket pocket and retrieved his phone, all business.

“I’ve a list of requirements for the next delivery.

We are having a family get together in three months and the entire family will be there.

This includes all the ancients, so I’ll need some of your older reserves.

They’re rather fussy about their vintages. ”

“What’s the occasion,” Thorn asked, glancing from Dacian’s computer, which showed Max’s information and past orders.

“Ninetta is celebrating her fifth century and wants to do it in style.”

Thorn chortled to hide the initial cough at the jolt this gave him. “I remember your parents celebrating her birth.”

Max waved an elegant hand in the air dramatically. “My sister never lets me forget I’m the baby of the family. Even now. I’m over three hundred years old, when will it get old for her?” he complained indulgently, appearing not at all concerned at being the youngest.

“It’s always toughest on the youngest in a long line of ancients,” Thorn sympathized, despite not being the youngest. That was Elouise.

Max gave a dramatic sigh that matched the next hand wave. “So true. We just have to grin and bear it, I suppose.”

“It would seem so,” Dacian muttered, rolling his eyes at Thorn over Max’s dramatics.

The hands never seemed to stay still. “I’m sure though, I’ll have the perfect vintage for the ancients.

” He reached over his desk for the phone.

“I’ll ask Rowan to bring up several bottles to do some tasting before you leave. ”

Allowing for the shift in conversation, Thorn talked numbers for the party and the length of time they planned to celebrate for. Some events like this could go on for weeks. He typed up the information as Dacian added other pertinent questions around vintage requirements.

They had a special blend of blood-wine that they rarely sold to anyone other than ancients.

Reaching two thousand years gave a vampire the status of an ancient vampire.

The blend wasn’t as sweet and had a distinct metal taste that was more reminiscent of actual blood.

It hadn’t been popular with the younger vampires, who hadn’t developed the same palate as older vampires who drank blood before there was an alternative.

In production, they’d only kept a few bottles to start with, then the requests had grown, so they kept a stock for such occasions as this.

The rap on the door stopped the conversation.

“Come in,” Dacian called out, getting up.

Balancing a tray, Rowan pushed open the door.

Dacian strode to him. “Thanks Rowan.” He took the tray of glasses and wine bottles.

“I added a bottle of the Primitivo 1765 vintage, too,” Rowan murmured before Dacian had turned away.

“Good choice,” Thorn replied as Dacian glanced at Rowan to nod.

“I don’t think I’ve had that vintage before?” Max was careful, like most of the vampires who came to visit, of how they worded things to stay below the radar in front of the staff.

The staff within the trusted circle, who knew what went on in the vineyard and winery, had all signed non-disclosure agreements.

They also got a percentage of the profits for their loyalty.

They had only once had an issue with an employee, who got greedy and thought extortion would work.

By the time Dacian had finished with the stupid fool, his thrall being more potent than Calvert’s and Thorn’s, the bear shifter was braying like a donkey, clueless about even working for them.

Him and his family left town not long after this in search of a medical person to help ‘fix him’ when no one in town could figure out what the problem was.

“Then you’re in for a treat,” Rowan answered politely. Then, after a quick look at Thorn seeking permission to leave, Rowan made a fast exit. He didn’t like to stick around when vampires visited.

Max came forward eagerly, looking at what Dacian had placed on the edge of his desk, making room by pushing a pile of paperwork towards the keyboard.

“He’s right, you are.” He eyed the selection with interest, it had been a while since he’d had some of these vintages. Would his palate have changed since his mating with Ledger? “Shall we start with the Primitivo?”